Let's Count Up Until the Stars Arrive
by Kill the Chorus
Summary: It had started like any other contest would start... New Year's Oneshot.


**Title:** Let's Count Up Until the Stars Arrive  
**Author:** Kill the Chorus  
**Summary:** It had started like any other contest would start.  
**Rating:** T+ has some cuss words here and there.  
**Pairings:** Sasunaru, and _very_ slight ShinoKiba if you squint.  
**Word Count:** 1,501  
**A/N:** Thanks for your reviews on my last story. I feel eternally grateful!  
Mhm... don't even ask about the title of this story... I was in church at the time I thought of this... so sorry!  
I hope you all had an awesome Christmas-Kwanzaa-Hannukah-Boxing Day-Holiday, and make 2008 a great one!  
[[ by the way, _italics_ either mean an action or thoughts.  
[[also, super sorry that some of the characters are a bit OOC! && happy early new years... I had to post this today because I'm busy tomorrow. :o  
**Enjoy.**

It had started like any other contest would start.

A simple dare.

One dare would lead to another one. When the victim is forced to back out, the audience will start to call the victim names. Name calling would lead a challenge. A challenge…well, I suspect you know the rest.

Things like these never turn out the way you think they should. Of course, they never do, do they now?

The same thing goes with a certain blonde haired boy we all know and have come to love. It was New Year's Eve, and Sakura had invited the whole gang, meaning teams seven, eight, ten and of course team Gai to a bar to celebrate the New Year. She had also invited the sand siblings over, but that's another story…

Kiba, the sly dog boy, had dared Naruto, the victim, to drink a whole bottle of sake. The dog had betted nothing at all for a reward, so Naruto backed down. Then of course, Kiba started calling the blonde names, such as chicken and such and such.

Now kids, what do we remember from our lesson in the previous paragraphs…ah yes, the challenge.

The crowd had started making chicken noises, taunting Naruto with every bawk and caw. This of course, boiled Naruto's temper real bad…

Naruto looked around at everyone's faces. Sakura and Ino were staring at him, giggling, probably gossiping. Shikamaru had an expression of 'how troublesome', and Chouji was gorging himself with the all you can eat BBQ. Tenten was smirking, and mouthed the words, 'Chicken are we?' to Naruto, sticking out her tongue. Neji and Lee were also smiling, most likely predicting the outcome of the event. Then there was Hinata, who was twiddling with her fingers, avoiding Naruto's eyes. What a weird girl...

"Hey Naruto," Kiba smirked. "I'll even make it worthwhile for you. Drink it, and I'll even treat you for ramen for a whole month."

Soon, poor little Naruto was faced with a dilemma. Should he, for his love of ramen and pride, chug a bottle of sake down when he knew perfectly well that he couldn't hold his alcohol for crap? Or be forced to live with the label 'chicken', down for the rest of his life?

Well let's see if this makes sense, shall we? Naruto, a boy who loves those noodles more than life itself, would back down a whole month full of _free _ramen... hmm, what would the idiot himself do?

Time's up. If you guessed that he took that he accepted that challenge, then you are correct. Give yourself a round of applause.

Kiba handed Naruto the bottle and he stared long and hard at it.

"Naruto, staring at it doesn't mean you drank it." Kiba smirked slyly. He, of course, knew Naruto and his weakness of alcohol from personal experience.

"Yeah, well, just you wait dog boy." He popped open the bottle and glugged it down. He could hear the bubbles already fizzing in his stomach, but then he could also hear the shouts of encouragement from everyone else. What did he get himself into...? He finished the bottle and slammed it on the countertop. "Finished!"

Kiba looked at Naruto and had a smug look. "Mah, let's see if you can go ten minutes without throwing up now."

"Heyyy," Naruto hiccupped. "That's no," another one. "Fair…you said … if I could _–hiccup-_ drink it all…" Now around that time, Naruto was pretty drunk… even though it was only 2 minutes. Didn't I tell you the idiot couldn't hold his liquor?

The mutt leaned on his friend, Shino, and grinned at Naruto. "My game, my rules."

Naruto slammed his head down on the table, attempting to say intact with reality. "Damn you… you flea-infested… dog…oi… you guys…-hiccup- suck…" He then proceeded to fall out his seat, and sprawled on the floor. I'm pretty sure he forgot all about the ramen...

Shino fixed his glasses, and stared at the Inuzuka. "Do you think he'll be okay…" he muttered only so that Kiba could hear it.

"Mahh… you worry too much. He'll pass out soon anyway…" He leaned into Shino's ear and whispered something that made the bug-lover turn a tinge of red. Kiba then turned to look at Naruto, who was muttering incoherent stuff in his last minutes of consciousness.

"Oi! Narut--" Kiba was soon interrupted by a loud squealing coming from the entrance from the bar. That could only mean one thing.

Sasuke had arrived.

Only, this was different. As soon as the duck-headed boy made the trip to the table, he was met by Naruto at his feet. "Ah… Sasuke… -hiccup-...jackass… you arrived."

Sasuke stared down at Naruto. "Dobe, what the hell are you doing?"

Naruto used the table as his support and attempted to stand up to Sasuke's eye level. He was only centimeters away from Sasuke's face and breathed out, "It's none of your _–hiccup-_ damn business." The fox turned around, and started to walk away, until someone grabbed his arm.

"I believe it is my business," Sasuke growled out.

Naruto turned to meet Sasuke's gaze and he stared at the angsty teenager. "Sasuke _-hiccup-_ let go of me." Naruto snarled at him.

"Then go home. You're dead drunk."

"Don't tell me what I have to_ -hiccup- _fucking do. Now _-hiccup-_ let go!"

"Make me dobe."

And snip, there went the nerve. "_-hiccup- _Don't fucking touch me Sasuke!" Naruto pulled his arm out of the grip.

Bam. At that moment, fist met face. Everyone stood up from their seat from the ruckus. The bartender yelled at them to shut the hell up, and Neji and Lee were forced to restrain Naruto, while Ino and Sakura rushed over to Sasuke to help him up.

"Get the fuck off me!" Naruto screeched out. He forced his way out of Neji and Lee's tight grip and ran out the bar.

"Oi, Naruto!" Ino shook her head. "That idiot… he didn't even say sorry to what he did to Sasuke!"

"Sasuke-kun! Are you hurt?" Sakura wasted no time to play the wannabe heroine.

Sasuke declined Ino and Sakura's helping hand with a 'hn' and stared out the door. "Naruto…" he muttered to himself.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Before he fled the scene, cries of 'Naruto-kun' and 'Naruto' were heard calling after him. He ran a couple of miles from the bar, and then over to the patch of land next to the bridge. Its calm atmosphere made it the best place to get rid of unnecessary stresses and just think.

Naruto didn't want to hit Sasuke. Hell, why would he hit his best friend? It was just the alcohol taking over his body. He felt sober now though… you know, after he threw up behind a bush.

The dobe collapsed on the grass, like it was his bed right before going to sleep. He rolled over and looked at his watch. Only ten minutes until the New Year. It was funny acutally. It was going to be a brand new year, and he would already be on the death list of his best friend… just peachy.

Naruto laid down on his back and looked at the stars. Boredom makes you do crazy things, such as counting the stars.

"1...7…14…" Oh damn, there were just too many.

"Dobe, I think you're suppose to count down…"

Naruto turned around, and only to see a certain boy with a glare scary enough to give you nightmares. "S-s-Sasuke!" He paused and rethought his choice of words. "If… you're coming here looking for an apology, you're not getting one!"

"I know," Sasuke took his hands out his pockets and took a seat next to Naruto.

Naruto had a nervous look on his face and blurted out, "Look, if you're going to get revenge… you're not doing a very good job at it!"

Sasuke sneered and looked at the younger boy. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by shouts. "It seems as there's only a few seconds left of this year…"

"Ten!" The crowd screamed out.

The blue-eyed idiot shook off his thoughts. If he was going to end this year, he might as well live to see the next year also. "Sasuke… look… I'm… real…" Naruto tripped over his words. "Sorry… I didn't mean it..."

"Nine!"

"I know," was Sasuke's reply.

"Eight!"

Naruto huffed, "Hey! What's that suppose to mean?"

"Seven!"

The raven-haired boy smiled, not a smirk, but a genuine smile, and put his hand on top of Naruto's.

"Six!"

"O-o-oi! S-S-Sasuke!" Naruto stuttered. "What are you doing?"

"Five!"

Sasuke moved in closer to Naruto's cherry red face and took a moment to stare in those cerulean eyes. They were mixed with feelings of fear and anxiety.

"Four!"

_No one's stopping me from moving... so why won't I? _"You're w-w-way t-t-too c-close b-bastard!"

"Three!"

But that only made Sasuke move closer-

"Two!"

-and closer-

"One!"

-until their lips finally met.

"Zero! Happy New Years!"

**_And let's just count up until the stars arrive…_**


End file.
